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Mary Kay Brewster was sentenced by judge Mark Hood in a Salinas courtroom to serve three years felony probation, 150 days of home confinement, and pay restitution to the SPCA for Monterey County.

Brewster, 58, of Salinas, was convicted of felony stalking, felony vandalism, and misdemeanor trespassing. She held her head in her hands as the judge read the sentence.

Brewster was a popular doctor at Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula.

Prosecutor Steve Somers said when the doctor's marriage fell apart due to allegations of infidelity, Brewster began stalking her husband and his new girlfriend. She sent thousands of harassing, profane text messages to him, and called his cellphone repeatedly throughout the night, Somers said.

She vandalized his car, poisoned plants in his garden, physically assaulted him, and threatened to tell his children "vile stories about him," prosecutors said.

She also stalked the new girlfriend, who worked as a nurse at Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula.

"(Brewster) accused her of being a 'skank' in front of patients," Somers said. "The defendant went to the victim's house and shouted at her, 'Slut, you're going to die.'"

The doctor kept a diary detailing her feelings.

"A search warrant of the defendant's home turned up a journal detailing the defendant's obsessive preoccupation and hatred of both victims," Somers said.

Brewster's revengeful actions against her estranged husband culminated when she went to a Salinas pet store and bought three rats, along with a four-foot-long ball python, prosecutors said.

She then broke into her husband's house while he was away on vacation and released the rats and snake into his bedroom. She left rat food for the rats.

Before he returned from vacation, the husband's new girlfriend spotted the rats living in his bed, and a python slithering along the bedroom's shutters.

"She screamed and fled the residence," Somers said.

"(The husband) was traumatized after learning of the snake being found in his bedroom," Somers said.

He did not return home for a week, and had his house searched for other possible animals planted inside.

The snake was sent to the SPCA for Monterey County, where employees said it grew 1-foot in just a few weeks.

During Wednesday's sentencing, Brewster said some of the accusations against her were untrue.

A decision on whether Brewster will be allowed to continue practicing medicine has not yet been made by The Medical Board of California.